Gas-fired wall heater and radiant therefor



1386- 1954 c. L. RUHL GAS-FIRED WALL HEATER AND RADIANT THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fiid Nov. 17, 1949 Char/es L 9616/ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 7, 1954 c. L. RUHL 2,696,205

GAS-FIRED WALL HEATER AND RADIANT THEREFOR Filed Nov. 17, 1 949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

A T TORNE Y United States Patent f GAS-FIRED WALL HEATER AND RADIANT THEREFOR Charles L. 'Rnhl, Dallas, Tex.

Application November 17,, 1949, Serial'No. 127,872

2 Claims. (Cl. 12692)' This invention relates to space heaters and more particularly to such heaters which are adapted to be installed in a wall recess.

The principal object of the invention is to provide, in a wall heater, a radiant of cast iron or other suitable material because of the latters heat retaining characteristics, so designed-and constructed that it constitutes a flue in itself by virtue of .a plurality of horizontal and spaced apart ribs between which air isinduced by natural draft passing through a multiple duct, flue structure rearwardly of the radiant. The air thus-circulated is heated and discharged with such rapidity that itis forced out and away from the heater front and wall-before it begins to rise; hence the front frame and rear wall of the heater remain relatively cool, requiring no insulation between the heater and wall and obviating blistering or discoloration of the Wall surfacing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wall heater whose radiant rests by its own weight on the gas burner and hence is readily removable for cleaning. Moreover, because of the upwardly converging walls and open upper end of the radiant, combined with the ability of the air to circulate freely through the radiant, complete combustion is accomplished to obviate the hazardous unburnt gas, thus eliminating the usual requiring venting.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a wall heater constructed according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the radiant, per se.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of radiant, and

Figure 5 is a front perspective view of the heater, partly broken away and from which the radiant and louvers have been removed.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference numeral denotes the outer shell or housing of the heater having a beveled front frame 11. The inner edges of the frame are turned abruptly inward to define a continuous flange 12. The substantially rectangular floating frame 13 is substantially U-shaped in transverse section along its sides to embrace the forward side wall edges of the heater unit (Fig. 5) as a finishing molding, which unit will be presently described. The frame or finish molding 13 is disposed within the confines of the flanged edges of the front frame 11 and is held in fixed relation thereto but out of contiguity with the flange 12 by means of studs 14, spaced about the frame 13. In like manner, a smaller third frame is supported horizontally in the upper portion of frame 13 but out of contiguity therewith by studs 16. A still smaller frame 15a embraces the air discharge ends of a plurality of flues defined by a series of parallel plates 17.

The heater unit referred to is made up of the smaller rectangular frame 15a and, by means of studs and spacers 16, this frame is maintained in spaced relationship with the discharge ends of a plurality of flues, defined by relatively spaced plates or baflles 17 which latter become increasingly shorter towards the rear wall of the outer shell 10.

The heater unit has side plates 18 parallel with each side wall of the outer shell 10 but spaced inwardly there- 2,696,205 Patented Dec. 7, 1954 from and constituting, with the rearmost of the baflle plates 17, an-innershell. It is the forward edges of these side plates 18 that are embraced by the sides of the larger frame or finish molding 13, as stated pre- .viously, and in this manner the heater unit is held in the outer shell, but out of thermal contact therewith by virtue of thespacers and bolts 14.

Spaced inwardly of the side walls 18 of the unit are the side plates 18a of an intermediate baffle plate 17 which defines, with the foremost baffle plate 17, a combustion chamber. The plates 18a are joined to the plates 18 by means of spacer studs 19 ad acent the top and bottom thereof. The rearmost bafltle 17 is turned towards the front of the unit at its upper end and terminates below the top of thesmall frame 15 in a backward fold, as shown in Figure 2, and the spacer studs 16 are disposed between the forward edge of the said plate 17 and the frame 15, as previously described. The forward edges of the companion plates 17 are disposed in spaced relationship below the first plate 17 in the manner shown.

it is desirable that the portion of the discharge area for the air emerging from the combustion chamber below the line outlets be restricted in order to accelerate discharge of the heated air through an auxiliary flue formed in part by a choke 20. This is accomplished by installing the choke 20 in this area, the choke being substantially V -shaped in transverse section to provide rearwardly thereof a deflecting surface for heated air rising through the radiant to be presently described in detail. A garnish plate 21 is mounted forwardly of the choke 20 which partially conceals the same. It is evident that the choke, in restricting the opening through which air in the combustion area is required to emerge from the heater, builds up a pressure of hot air in said area, thereby causing the same to be expelled with suflicient force to propel the air into a room.

Access to the radiant, generally designated by reference character 22, is had by lifting the louvered frame 24, pivoted at a to the side plates 18a (Fig. 2) and in this manner also, the burner 25 is reached for igniting the gas. The louvers are inclined as shown to direct indrawn air upwardly along the outer face of the radiant, to be induced thereinto in the manner to be presently explained.

The preferred form of radiant 22 is made up of two identical sections which are produced from cast iron and welded together to form an integral body. The body is of inverted V-shape in transverse section and its upward convergent walls are composed of horizontal ribs 26 which have flat exterior faces and curved inner surfaces calculated to offer minimum resistance to air induced through the spaces between the ribs by the draft established above the turner. Thus, the air is drawn into intimate contact with the flame to cause more complete combustion than if the air was constrained to pass upwardly along the outer face of the radiant. The arrows in Figure 2 disclose the course of the primary air as it enters the heating chamber A through the louvered front of the heater and is drawn in part into the radiant 22 through the spaces between the ribs 26 thereof. Also, the arrows show the passage of secondary air through an opening 27 in the lower portion of the heater, defined by the lower edge of the fender plate 27a and the outer frame 13. The air thus entering is drawn upwardly through the space between the foremost plate 17 and the radiant 22 as well as through the flues defined by the companion plates 17, to emerge through the openings above the choke 20 free of objectionable fumes.

The radiant 22, being of cast iron, is much more durable than the conventional ceramic radiants and is provided with legs 27, defining a recess 28 which receives the burner 25 to support the radiant for ready removal. for cleaning and other purposes. The radiant is held at its top by means of U-shaped clips 29 (Fig. 2) welded to opposite end walls 18 of the flue assembly and in clined in the manner shown to engage the radiant at each end thereof.

in Figure 4 is shown a perspective view of a modified form of radiant 30 which embodies all of the characteristics and advantages of the radiant 22, but is of slightly different construction. The radiant 30, instead of being composed of parts cast in iron, is fabricated from sheet metal to form end members 31 and longitudinally curved ribs 32 whose contiguous edges are slightly overlapping but spaced apart to admit secondary air whose upward passage is accelerated by the convex confronting faces of the ribs, in a manner not unlike the similarly shaped faces of the ribs of the cast iron radiant 22 earlier described. As in the radiant 22, the radiant 30 is provided With short legs 33, defining between the same a recess 34 which receives the burner in a manner described for the radiant 22.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wall heater, the combination comprising a horizontally extending burner, a radiant for said heater comprising a substantially inverted V-shaped body in transverse cross-section removably supported on said burner having an open top, horizontal ribs in opposed parallelism forming the sides of said body, said ribs each being formed into a radially bisected segment of a circle in transverse cross-section and having an outer flat inclined surface, a flat horizontal top surface and a convexly curved inwardly and upwardly extending inner surface and spaced apart to define inlets for the secondary air of said burner, said inlets being substantially less in width than the width of the outer flat surface of individual ribs of said body, the inner curved surfaces of each of the opposed ribs being effective to induce flow of said secondary air entering between said ribs in an upgardly direction for emergence through the top of said bo y.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a heater radiant comprising a body having an open top and composed of permanently joined upwardly convergent side sections having horizontal ribs formed therein, each defining a radially bisected segment of a circle in transverse section, said ribs each having an outer flat inclined surface, a flat horizontal top surface and a convexly curved inwardly and upwardly extending inner surface, said ribs being disposed in spaced parallelism to define secondary air inlets therebetween each being or substantially less width than that of said outer flat inclined surface, the curved surfaces of the ribs of said sections being in confronting relationship to obviate resistance to said secondary air induced to flow into said body by natural draft, preliminary to the emergence of the air through the open top of said radiant.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,539,477 Grayson May 26, 1925 1,564,362 Loepfe Dec. 8, 1926 1,582,657 Andrews Apr. 27, 1926 1,726,000 Sala Aug. 27, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 176,216 Great Britain Mar. 9, 1922 380,352 Great Britain Sept. 15, 1932 537,776 Great Britain July 7, 1941 582,317 Great Britain Nov. 12, 1946 608,116 Great Britain Sept. 9, 1948 

